Hakkenden: Touhou Hakken Ibun Season 3
by Amywxue
Summary: The eight beads had gathered. Tamazusa was defeated. Murasame was calmed. Our heroes retired, preferring a quiet, normal life... AS IF! Nope, the adventure is nowhere NEAR over. Their final battle with Tamazusa only marks the beginning of their next adventure!
1. Feather

**Hello! This is my first attempt at a Hakkenden: Touhou Hakken Ibun fanfic archive. Please excuse my overall horrible writing. **

**I was COMPLETELY unsatisfied with the anime ending, so this is how this (incredibly bad) story came to be. Basically, it's my own (failed) attempt at season three.**

**Cover image drawn by LynkStart. Thank you :)!**

**Disclaimer - I do not own this awesome series.**

**Chapter One - Feather  
**

After the crisis was over, the Konaya Bed and Breakfast inn was as lively as ever.

"Meat!"

"Oi! Murasame! That's _my_ meat!" Inuzuka Shino protested loudly, grabbing the currently-in-crow-form Demon Sword, Murasame, by the leg. Murasame squawked loudly in protest, flapping his wings in Shino's face, and proceeded to try and peck him on the head.

"Geez, Shino, just take a different piece!" Inuta Kobungo sighed through a mouthful of rice.

Shino spared a glare at him while dodging another attack from his crow companion. "And lose the piece of meat I've had my eye on? No way! _Ouch!_ Murasame! Give that back!"

"It's Murasame's!"

"Shino, please calm down," Inukawa Sousuke's plea was drowned out by Murasame's furious squawks as Shino managed to snatch the meat away from him.

"HA!"

"Still a child," Inusaka Keno sighed, mock sad. "You almost get absorbed by Murasame, and not five minutes later, you're fighting over a piece of meat. _Again_." A smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"Don't call me a child!" Shino, as expected, flared up.

"Then stop acting like one."

"Am not!"

"Are so."

"Keno, you're acting like a child as well," Kokonoe pointed out.

Keno opened his mouth to protest but was distracted by the doll maker, Inumura Daikaku, who was in the process of choking half to death as he sipped some of the tea that Hamaji offered him. Inue Shinobu had also been offered some, and had already fainted after his face, disturbingly, turned a dark shade of orange.

"Blah!" he coughed out, firmly pushing the offending cup away. "What the heck _is_ this?!"

"Ginger, beetroot, rosemary and anteater blood blended herbal tea," Hamaji answered, smiling as she pushed the cup back to him. "I won't forgive you if you don't finish it."

"Sousuke, save me!"

"Oh, dear, it's starting to get cold... I better go close all the windows and... um... light the candles..." Sousuke stood up.

"What?! Kobung-"

"I'll show you where the candles are." The wind demon followed Sousuke, hurriedly sliding the door closed after them.

"WHAT?! Genpac-"

"I'll be off. It's time for the regular patrol." The rain demon left before Daikaku could even blink.

"_WHA-?!"_

"Try some of this as well." Hamaji held out a plate of acid-green onigiri.

"Um... what's in them? No - on second thoughts, I don't think I want to know..."

"It's good for you," Inuyama Dousetsu added in, and Daikaku found himself cornered between the two health obsessed siblings. Yukihime chuckled silently beside them.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo-gack!"

"Rest in peace, Daikaku," Shino muttered, all too familiar with his childhood friend's cooking.

"Lively, I see," Satomi Riou quoted, quietly drinking his (thankfully ordinary) tea.

"Nothing's ever boring with Shi-chan around, is it?" Osaki Kaname said cheerfully. His foxes nodded in agreement.

"Ah! MURASAME!" Murasame winced, almost dropping the piece of meat he was trying to sneak away. Changing tactics, he took flight instead, cawing loudly.

"Meat!"

"It's _mine_!"

"Murasame's!"

* * *

Three hours of laughing, screaming and chattering later, Shino let out an involuntary yawn, surprising everyone, including himself.

"Aw, does the little child need to go to bed?" Keno asked, still rather ticked off at what Shino had said half an hour earlier about him looking like a girl (after Keno had teased him about being short).

"Shut u-u-u-achoo!"

"Sneezing as well?" Keno said, surprised.

"Let me have a look," Dousetsu ordered, placing a hand on his forehead.

"I'm fine," Shino protested, right before another yawn overwhelmed him.

"You are most certainly _not_ fine," Dousetsu replied, removing his hand, frowning. "You have a temperature."

"A cold?" Kobungo suggested.

"Hmmm..." Dousetsu murmured thoughtfully. "Perhaps..."

"For goodness _sake_, I'm _fine_," the purple haired boy repeated, folding his arms and glaring at them defiantly. "It's probably just an after affect from Murasame. It's not a big deal."

Sousuke shook his head. "Almost getting killed certainly _is_ a big deal. I still think it's better for you to go to bed, Shino."

"I'm not a kid! I don't need to go to bed! I'm not even... even..." His yawn announced otherwise.

"Bed," Sousuke said firmly.

"But-"

"_Bed._"

A long and heated argument later, a grumbling Shino reluctantly stood up. Murasame fluttered up to his shoulder in a flurry of feathers, and Shino rubbed his eyes before muttering some more and trudging off to his room.

He never made it there.

Murasame gave a sharp, warning cry. Shino looked up, alarmed, as his crow companion took flight, still squawking. The temperature took an abrupt plunge as the light source went out. The room was thrown into darkness for a second before a eerie, purple glow took it's place. It's source almost seemed to come from both nowhere and everywhere. Murasame's desperate calls was the only sound.

All of a sudden, Shino was hit by a wave of dizziness and nausea, which quickly changed into a splitting headache. With a cry of pain, he covered his head with his hands, swaying on his feet. Despite the coldness of the room, he could feel beads of sweat trickle down his face. He squeezed his eyes shut. His head pounded harder with every cry that the Demon Sword made.

_What's happening to me?_

"_Shino!_"

Shino couldn't even work out where the voice came from, or who it was that spoke. Murasame had just screeched his loudest yet. Shino's headache hit the level of intolerable. Someone was screaming. Dully, he realized that _he_ was the one that had just let out the inhuman scream, unable to hold the pain in anymore. His vision swam, and he felt himself slowly begin to tilt, then fall, feeling like his head had just been split open. Blurry figures that he couldn't quite make out rushed towards him. The last thing he saw was Murasame melting into what looked like liquid shadow with a final cry, then vanishing altogether, as if sucked into a endless black hole. A single black feather drifted down. Shino half consciously reached out, one hand still over his head, the other grasping for the feather that was just out of reach, his green eyes glazing over with tiredness and pain.

_Murasame..._

Then his head hit the floor, and blissful unconsciousness claimed him.

**Please don't kill me! I know my writing sucks! *Hides behind Shino from a mob of angry readers***

**Shino: What are you doing?**

**Me: Don't move! I don't wanna die! *grabs hold of Shino and turns him around to hide from another mob of angry readers***

**Shino: Um... Okay... In order to get this annoying girl off me, can you please review?**

**PLEASE REVIEW!**


	2. Disappearance Pt I

**Yay! Thank you to jellofuzz, Sweet Cynthia, pozdnyakovae, smccluskey181, Guest and BlackJoke'-err for reviewing! **

**Special thanks to husna212, my first guest reviewer and Zenray, the first member of Fanfiction to review to this (incredibly stupid) story! Thank you, minna-san!**

**Also, a huge thank you to LynkStart, who is now officially my planner and co-writer for this story (cause I'm too lazy to plan my writing, even though I really should), even though she _is_ constantly threatening me to keep writing or she'll stop helping me... **

**Anyways, thanks to LinkStart, I have this story much more planned out, so please thank her, everyone!**

**Disclaimer - Sadly, no, I do not own Hakkenden: Touhou Hakken Ibun.**

**Chapter 2 - Disappearance (Part I)**

Waking up in the morning with the mother of all headaches definitely _wasn't_ fun.

Shino slowly came to from his deep, dreamless sleep. His head felt like a giant had decided to whack him with a hammer, and kick it around for good measure. He concentrated on trying to open his eyes, but they remained stubbornly glued shut. He tried to speak, but his lips would not part. He couldn't even twitch a finger. Shino inwardly scowled. He _hated_ not being able to move. He _hated_ this headache, still throbbing at the back of his head. He _hated _having no clue about what was going on. He _hated_... Well, you get the point.

Shino frowned as he realized that his fingers were clutched around something. It was soft and smooth. Curious, Shino commanded his fingers to feel what it is. A few vain attempts later, he gave up.

The sound of a door opening, then clicking shut again. The smell of food filled the room, and Shino felt his stomach growl.

_How long had it been since I last ate?_ Shino wondered. He certainly _felt_ like he hadn't had had any food for years.

"Shino?" a soft, familiar voice spoke. The sound of curtains being drawn open.

Finally, Shino managed to croak out, "Sou?"

"Ah, you're awake," Sousuke sighed, relief evident in his voice. There was something else in his voice as well, something that Shino usually didn't hear in Sousuke's calm voice. Was that... a hint of surprise?

"W-what happened?"

Sousuke paused, carefully considering what to say.

"You just screamed, and collapsed. I carried you back up here." Shino's throat still felt raw from the harsh cry. "However, Murasame is... gone."

"Gone?" Shino repeated. For the first time, he became aware of a icy, hollow feeling in his chest. "... Gone gone?"

"Yes, I am afraid so. He was sucked into the... whatever it was," Sousuke clarified, worriedly watching his childhood friend.

"Oh," Shino said quietly. So that was why he felt so empty. Murasame's presence was no longer there. A sudden thought struck him. "Wait. If that guy's gone, then how am I ... still alive?"

Sousuke didn't have an answer.

"Well, for now, let us just be glad that you have _not_ dropped dead," Sousuke sighed.

Meanwhile, Shino managed to open his eyes a crack. He winced at the light, blinked, and opened them fully. His body was finally starting to wake up. He turned his head to look out the window, realizing that he was in one of the guest rooms at the inn. Then he blinked again.

"Sou, is that what I _think _it is, or am I still half asleep?" he said, staring at the blue eye framed by snow white fur looking unblinkingly back at him through the window.

"What do you- ah, yes. Satomi-san is still here."

Shino turned his head a little more, and caught sight of the blonde sipping some tea in the corner of the room.

"Right..."

"Oh, and Shino, I think you should know-"

Sousuke was interrupted by a loud knock at the door as Kobungo walked in, balancing a tray of tea hazardously on one hand while opening the door with the other.

"Thought you'd like some tea," the Wind demon said unnecessarily. Then he caught sight of the youth on the bed. "Oh, Shino, are you already awaaAAAKEEEEE!"

The loud shattering of china, not to mention the yell, quickly attracted the attention of the others downstairs. With a thunder of footsteps, they rushed into the room, pushing the still shell-shocked Kobungo aside as they did.

"What happened?" Daikaku demanded, all three of his eyes scanning the room.

"Put that away before you kill someone," Keno snapped, katana half drawn and also looking wearily around the area.

"Shino? Are you OK?" Shinobu inquired mildly, though his body posture showed that he was ready for anything that may happen.

"Everyone, let's calm down," Dousetsu sighed. "Looks like it was just a misunderstan-OHMIGOD!" The doctor fell back onto the floor, black against the wall, mouth gaping wide open.

"What?" Keno tensed. Dousetsu only continued staring. You could have easily fit an entire egg into his mouth without even touching his teeth. "Geez, you look like you've seen a gh-OOOST!"

Having followed the purple haired man's incredulous stare, he saw the source of the man's shock, and his mouth also swiftly dropped open, eyes as wide as saucers.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Daikaku demanded. Looking to his left, he saw that Shinobu was in a similar state. The youths' mouth opened and closed, not unlike a fish, but no words came.

Puzzled, Daikaku looked at the center of the room, where Shino was.

And almost fainted.

"-that, since Murasame is not here, you have returned to your actual form," Sousuke finished, looking both exasperated and amused at their companion's reactions.

The teen on the bed slowly sat up and blinked confusedly a few times as he grabbed a handful of his long, purple hair. He looked up at the mirror on the opposite side of the room. A handsome young adult of eighteen years dressed in a plain yukata stared black at him.

"Huh. I guess I am."

That was when the others came out of their speechless state.

"EEEEEHHHHHHHHH!?"

"S-so, you really _are_ eighteen?" Keno blurted out.

Then teen on the bed folded his legs and glared at Keno indignantly. "What, you didn't believe me?"

Keno only continued to stare, going back into his speechless state.

Dousetsu remained how he was in his position on the floor, eyes wide, mouth open. As he was one of the later ones to come, the others hadn't had a chance - and hadn't thought they _needed_ to - tell him about Shino's true age, he was caught completely unprepared, whereas most of the others at least _knew _about the special connection between the boy and Murasame, despite not having seen it themselves. The only thought currently occupying poor Dousetsu's mind were: _Oh. My. GOD. He's just turned from a thirteen year old to an eighteen year old. Oh. My. GOD._

Daikaku, who _also_ hadn't known about Shino's 'condition', was equally shocked, though in a more dignified manner than Dousetsu. He managed to remain standing - just - and kept blinking, as if the young man in front of him was an illusion.

Shinobu was also as dumbstruck as the rest. His eyes were as wide as saucers. Shino caught their startled looks.

"Ah, sorry... did I forget to tell you guys?" Like puppets controlled by the same string, the three dumbstruck new members to their group shook their heads numbly as Shino rubbed the back of his head somewhat sheepishly. "Yeah... I've been stuck as a thirteen year old for the last five years, cause' of Murasame. Now that he's gone..." he spread his hands out and gestured to himself, shrugging. "I'm back to how I'm supposed to look as a eighteen years old."

"That's... shocking," Daikaku muttered, snapping out of his daze. _Who would've thought that the little brat was actually eighteen?_

"A-ah..." Shinobu blinked. _So Shino's kinda like... me..._ Somehow, the thought made him feel much closer to the boy - er, _teen_... _Wow, this is confusing... and I'd thought that I'd gotten used to the whole age thing..._

_That rude, arrogant brat is actually eighteen?! _Keno screamed in his head, still unable to process that particular piece of information.

Shino noticed his expression and smirked. "Surprised?"

Hearing the familiar, arrogant note in Shino's voice snapped Keno out of his dazed state.

"So? I bet you're still a brat at heart."

"What'd ya sa-"

"_Shino_," Sousuke warned. _This is too much for one day... _"We don't have time for this, remember?"

Shino bit back his retort, instead settling for a glare. Keno rolled his eyes, and mouthed 'such a child' at him. Shino gritted his teeth, then silently snapped back, 'girly'. Eyes glittering with amusement, Keno replied, 'should _you_ really be saying that right now?' His hand motioned towards the mirror. Shino opened his mouth, paused, glared some more and shut it again, unable to come up with a suitable return. For now.

Sousuke watched this with a sense of relief. _Good. At least they'll have no problems adjusting to Shino's transformation... _But then again, they _had_ seen weirder.

"So? What are we gonna do?"

This was the one question that no one currently had an answer to.

"I suppose we can only try and gather information right now," Riou put in. Yatsufusa growled quietly, his eye still peering unblinkingly into the window.

They all fell silent as the full weight of the situation hit them. They don't know what happened. They had no leads to go on. They have no one to help them. The current situation could almost be considered hopeless.

"Anyways, let's eat first!"

The cheerful voice shattered the gloomy atmosphere as Shino's stomach growled angrily. Keno chuckled. Soon the others joined in - the laughter was infectious. Even Dousetsu gave a few nervous giggles.

"Geez, we can always count on you to break the mood, Shino," Kobungo grinned, picking himself up from the floor.

"What? I can't help it if I'm hungry," Shino replied. "No matter what, you've still gotta eat, right?"

"But I thought you've already _had_ your growth spurt, Shino, since you're eighteen and all..." Keno said, completely straight faced. "Hate to break it to you, but no matter how much you eat, you won't grow any taller, you know..."

"What'd ya say, kora!"

Everybody burst into laughter again as Shino fumed even more. Yukihime and Kokonoe, who had been watching quietly from the sidelines, both smiled.

_Shino's still Shino after all, _Shinobu smiled as his friend began exchanging insults with Keno. _Nothing's changed at all._

* * *

"Hah? Why?"

"Please!" Kobungo begged, clasping his hands together. "Whatever you do, _don't _let bro see you like this!"

"He's going to find out sooner or later, you know," Keno sighed, folding his arms - though he more or less understood what Kobungo was saying. He shuddered and immediately told his brain to shut up and stop supplying images on how Genpachi would react if he saw Shino in his current form.

Shino shrugged and took a bite out of his onigiri. "Whatever. Hey, this is really nice! I'd better go thank the mistress later..."

_This is no good! _Kobungo thought in horror, frantically pulling at his hair. _He's _still_ totally bro's typ_e...

Kobungo's pleading was cut short as a huge explosion interrupted their conversation.

"What was that?" Daikaku jumped up, rushing to the window. Yatsufusa growled, and pointed his nose in the direction of the noise.

"Let's go - that didn't sound like something humans could do."

"Shino, you stay here," Sousuke ordered as Shino made to stand up and follow.

"What?! No way!" Shino protested. "I'm _fine_! At least I wanna see what's going on!"

"But-"

"We don't have time to argue, Sou!"

Sousuke sighed in defeat. Even as a 18 year old, Shino is _still_ incredibly stubborn.

"All right... but _please_, Shino, be careful. Murasame isn't with you anymore, remember?"

"Thanks, Sou!" Shino called over his shoulder, already rushing out the door, only pausing to grab a coat which he hurriedly threw on. Only then did he remember the object in his hand. Barely giving it a second thought, he shoved the object into his pocket.

"Really, he doesn't change, does he?" Sousuke sighed as he began following the others.

Riou took a sip of his tea, and allowed a small, almost unnoticeable smile to tilt the corners of his mouth.

* * *

"Whoa! What _is _that thing?!"

As the small group skidded to a stop, they were struck by the pure _size_ of the ayakashi. It wasn't as impressive as some other youkai they had seen, but it was still more than enough to make a grown man scream like a girl (and wet his pants). Dozens of hairy tentacles sprouted from the main body of the beast, each with a mouth armed with needle sharp teeth at the end. Its legs vaguely resembled that of a lion, only with scales instead of fur. It had no eyes - only dark, empty eye sockets where his eyeballs should have been. A snake's tongue slithered out from each mouth, tasting the air. It's claws were wickedly sharp, each as large as a horse. And its stench - _urgh_.

_How does this guy live with itself?_ Shino scrunched up his nose and recoiled in distaste. _He smells like an entire stinking sewer!_

"Stand back, Shino," Daikaku warned, tugging off his headband.

"Yeah," Keno breathed, unsheathing his katana. "Things could get messy..."

Considering the smell of the ayakashi, Shino wasn't about to protest.

**"Which one of you?"** A deep voice snarled. Shino winced and covered his ears. The ayakashi's voice was like metal grinding on sandpaper - only 100 times worse. **"Which one of you is** **it?!"**

"Hah?" Judging from his companions equally baffled expressions, they didn't have a clue what the rampaging spirit was going on about either.

**"Is it you?!" **The monster picked up a screaming woman with a hairy tentacle, glaring at her with its empty eye sockets. The woman only screamed louder.

**"No,"** The youkai decided, tossing the still shrieking human aside and snatching up another terrified man who stood petrified with terror. **"Is it _you_?"**

The man made a sound like a mouse being trodden on. With a bellow, the ayakashi threw the male over the roof. Its tentacles thrashed about, crashing through roofs and smashing huge holes in the various shops. Terrified humans scrambled everywhere like mice fleeing from a cat; adults screaming, children crying, dogs barking, cats hissing. It was a full out mass panic.

"MOVE!" Daikaku roared as the building next to them collapsed. Dousetsu looked up, squeaked, and just managed to get to safely as Keno grabbed his collar and threw him to the side before jumping away himself. Dousetsu landed unceremoniously on the ground in a heap.

_Why'd he come anyway?_ Shino sweat-dropped as he got to safety himself. He almost called for Murasame - the familiar name was at the tip of his tongue before he remembered - the Demon Sword wasn't there anymore. Cursing, he leapt back to avoid a falling piece of rubble the size of a table from smashing his skull open.

_Gah! I feel so... so... useless! _Shino seethed as he could only watch Keno swiftly cut off one of the youkai's writhing tentacles. _I can't **do** anything!_

The sound of children crying broke Shino out of his thoughts. It sounded really close by, and unnervingly familiar. The teen glanced around, and his eyes narrowed as he saw the partly collapsed building. The rubble had fallen over the door, trapping the kids inside.

Shino immediately jumped into action, pulling the larger pieces aside. He was really glad for the extra strength of his older body - had it been his 13 year old body, he would have lacked the power to haul some of the heavier chunks away from the entrance.

"Oi! You alright in there?" he called as the dust cleared.

The sound of crying stopped. "We're here!" A boy's voice called frantically.

A sinking feeling grew in his stomach. "Atsushi?"

"How'd you know my name?" the boy blinked as his grime-streaked face came into view.

"That's not important," he said, trying to sound calm and soothing with a youkai rampaging outside. "You'll be alright. Is anyone else in there?"

"Atsushi-kun?"

Shino's worst fears were confirmed."Kaho?"

The blind girl's sharp ears picked up the voice. "S... Shino-sensei?"

Shino gritted his teeth. There wasn't any time to explain things.

"E-eh? Shino-sensei? But-"

"I'll explain later," Shino interrupted. "Are you hurt? Can you walk?"

Atsushi still looked unconvinced, but considering their current situation, he wasn't about to refuse help. "I'm fine, but Kaho..." He glanced back worriedly.

Shino looked at the girl and his eyes widened as he saw that her leg was bent at an unnatural angle. One thing was for sure - she isn't gonna be going anywhere by herself in a hurry.

"Bring her over," Shino ordered. "I'll carry her out."

Possibly due to the situation, Atsushi rather uncharacteristically obeyed without a word. Shino reached his arms through the gap he had made when Atsushi's eyes widened and he screamed, "WATCH OUT!"

Shino spun around in time to see a gaping maw lined with deadly fangs speeding towards him. There was no time to dodge or protect himself. His last thought was to shield the children with his body. He braced himself for the pain.

It never came.

The sound of metal. A swish. A sickening _thunk_.

"Are you okay, miss?"

Shino blinked, then slowly looked up.

"Genpachi!"

* * *

"This guy's really tough," Kobungo grunted as he sliced off yet another of the youkai's tentacles in his demon form.

"We're almost there!" Keno yelled as he slashed away another. "Finish it off, Daikaku!"

"You got it!" Daikaku's Evil Eye fixed on the hugely-weakened ayakashi. It howled and tried to claw at the doll maker, who stepped back. Unlike normal ayakashi, this one took much longer to be destroyed - it slowly crumbled to black powder.

**"Curse you, humans!"** it roared, it black eye sockets staring at its killers. **"You kill be destroyed, mark my words. The great Master shall rule!"**

"What 'master'?" Keno demanded. The ayakashi howled one last time before its body crumbled to dust.

Daikaku released a breath he hadn't noticed he was holding. "Thank god. I thought there was something wrong with my eye."

"That _was_ very worrying," Kokonoe mused, he eyes sharp and thoughtful.

"Is everyone safe?" Everyone looked around in confusion before directing their gazes down to see a familiar, slightly panting dog.

"Yeah, I think so..."

"Where's Shinobu?"

"Mmmth! Evr fur!"

Daikaku quickly spotted the white wing poking out from the remains of a collapsed stall next to him.

"I'll get him." With a grunt, he heaved the young tengu out.

"Where's Dous-"

"Out cold," Keno sighed, nodding to the crumpled heap in the corner. They all sweat-dropped as they saw that he had, miraculously, remained completely unharmed during the chaotic battle. _How'd that guy do it..._

Kobungo suddenly jumped. "Oi! Where's Shino?"

The others jumped as well, and quickly spread out, calling their companions' name.

"Shino!" the wind demon yelled. "Oi, Shino!"

As he rounded the corner, he saw a sight that made his blood run cold.

"At your service, miss," Genpachi said, bowing and taking up the hand of a certain purple-head in front of him. Kobungo could just see the flowers floating around his brother. "I am deeply honored for one as beautiful as yourself to know my name. Please, if you would like to grace me with your presence for dinner at our humble inn, perhaps we could get to know each other more-"

"ANIKI!" he screamed, rushing forwards and pulling his brother back from the 'miss'. "THAT'S _SHINO_! _SHI-NO_!"

Silence.

"Huh?"

**Hopefully I haven't disappointed anyone...**

**Shino: *shivers***

**Me: Please review!**

**Shino: *shivers again***

**Me: Are you alright, Shino?**

**Shino: I dunno... I just suddenly got this really chilly feeling, like someone's staring at me...**

**Me: Huh, I wonder why...**

**Genpachi: Shino! You looked so cute as a girl-**

**Me: *almost throws up***

**Shino: POLICE! THERE'S A CREEPY GUY HERE!**

**Me: Lets just call the army instead...**


	3. Disappearance Pt II

**Wow, its been a while, hasn't it?**

**Happy New Year, everyone! :) Hope you all have a happy new year and a great 2014!**

**Warning: Contains my horrible writing...**

**Disclaimer - I do not own this awesome series.**

**Disappearance Pt II**

"So, Murasame is gone," Genpachi repeated slowly, "and this is your actual form?"

After the youkai had been dealt with, the eight warriors had returned to the Inn. Shino had recounted to Genpachi what happened after he woke up.

Shino shrugged. "I guess you could say that."

"Exactly, brother. So that is a _guy-_"

"Beautiful," Genpachi murmured, taking hold of Shinos' hand again, much to Kobungos' distress. "How is it possible that such a beautiful human exists-"

"ANIKI! I JUST TOLD YOU – THAT'S A _GUY_! THAT'S _SHINO_!" Kobungo stressed as Shino sweat-dropped and tried to pull his hand away.

Genpachi gave his bother a blank look. "I know. You've told me." He turned his gaze back to the teen in question, who had just managed to free himself from Genpachis' grip. "I always knew he was going to be a beauty when he grows up," he crowed, seizing Shino's hand again.

Kobungo got a lot of weird looks as he rushed outside and promptly began banging his head on the nearest pole.

"He snapped," Daikaku said forlornly, shaking his head and sighing. Dousetsu nodded grimly while Shinobu was peering worriedly out the door.

Keno sighed and rubbed his temples. This was _way_ too much for one day.

Just then, the mistress of the inn walked into the room.

"Ara, what a pretty guest we have!" she smiled. Seeing Genpachi holding his hand, her eyes widened and her hands flew to her mouth. "Oh my!" she gasped in delight. "Genpachi, have you finally found another person?"

"MOM!" poor Kobungo howled, as the sound of someone's head banging on a pole increased in both volume and speed. "THAT'S _SHINO! SHI-NO!"_

The mistresses' eyes went even wider. "S-Shino? B-but-"

Shino just sighed and ran a hand through his long (now rather messy) hair. "It's a _really_ long story. Please, don't ask."

"Shino-sensei! Shino-sensei!"

A shiver went up said person's spine. _Uh oh…_ This was what he had _really_ been dreading. When they first came back, they had tried to convince the two shocked kids to go back to the church. _Tried_. All they got for their troubles were a lot of yelling from Atsushi and a lot begging and wide eyed looks from Kaho. In the end, the two kids had managed to convince them into letting them stay with the promise that they'll have a nap first to recover their strength.

And now Atsushi was crossing his arms and glaring at Shino, looking remarkably like the stubborn purple-haired teen himself when _he_ wanted to know something that was being kept from him.

"So?" the boy demanded, completely unfazed by the presence of all the adults in the room.

Shino shrugged, looking uneasily away from the boy's demanding eyes. "So what?" Between the two of them, their expressions were rather comical. Daikaku looked like he was rather enjoying the show.

"You know what I mean," Atsushi snapped. Many occupants of the room hid a smile at the sight of a child confronting the much older teen in such an adult-like way. "How did you, like, double your height in one night?"

"Er…" Shino wracked his brains for a suitable explanation that did _not_ involve revealing everything and putting the kids into danger. He found none. "Er… um… ano… well… eto... I… uh… had a huge growth spurt?" he finished stupidly.

A burst of laughter exploded from Keno, which earned him a death-glare from Shino. Admittedly, an eighteen year olds' death-glare definitely _was_ more effective than the thirteen year olds' version. That didn't stop the dancer from stopping his laughing, however. If anything, it made him laugh all the harder.

Atsushi still looked unconvinced. It didn't exactly help that Keno was almost collapsed in a mad laughing fit.

"It's true," Sousuke added, as he couldn't think of a better cover either. "Shino... er... drank lots of milk." It sounded so incredibly lame he almost winced.

This proved to be too much for Keno. While he had been bent double before, he was now completely collapsed on the ground, abandoning whatever dignity he had left, laughing. Between him howling and hitting his fists on the floor and Kobungo still determinedly banging his head against the pole outside, muttering about idiotic brothers, they got a _lot_ of strange looks indeed.

"Momma, there's two weird people over there," a passing child said, pointing to the duo. "One's laughing on the ground and the other onii-san is banging his head on the pole. Is it a new game?"

"Shh. Don't look at them, dear," the mother hushed as she pulled her child closer, walking past the Inn _much_ more quickly than necessary and giving them a disapproving stare.

"Um… er… yeah," Shino agreed, his cheeks heating up at the comment from the passer-by. "_Lots_ of milk. Very good for you. Yup. Totally."

"Really?" Atsushi said excitedly, now almost bouncing up and down, all previous suspicion forgotten. "Did'ya hear that, Kaho? We gotta drink more milk, so we'll grow tall!"

"Mm!" Kaho replied enthusiastically, smiling.

Everyone released a breath they hadn't realized they were holding - thank_ goodness_ children were so gullible - with the exception of Keno and Kobungo, that is. Keno was _still_ on the floor, uncharacteristically banging his fists on the ground, tears of mirth gathering at the edges of his eyes and his hair in quite a mess as he stammered out incomplete sentences through his laughter, mainly involving the words 'milk', 'Shino' and 'growth spurt', while the latter was still attacking the innocent pole (which was now starting to show cracks and was groaning really quite ominously) with his forehead.

"Momma, those two people are _still_ playing their game. It looks fun."

"Shh, its rude to point, dear."

* * *

"What's wrong, Sousuke?" Daikaku asked, seeing the slight frown on the man's face.

Sousuke looked up. "Hmm... its just that something has been bothering me."

"Oh?"

"Its about Shino and Murasame."

That quickly caught the attention of everyone in the room.

"Atsushi-kun, Kaho-chan, I'll take you back to your room now," Dousetsu said gently, putting a hand on both their shoulders.

"Ehh?!" Atsushi whined.

"The adults are going to talk. Come on..."

With a lot of whining and complaining, the two kids were taken upstairs.

"What is it?" Shino asked curiously.

"About the connection you have with him."

"Connecti- oh. That." Shino suddenly looked thoughtful.

"What?" Keno asked, looking from one to the other.

"Well..." Sousuke looked at Shino.

The teen just shrugged.

"I've always had a weak body as a kid," he began, "and I didn't really have long to live." There was a collective gasp around the room.

_How can he say that so casually?! _Dousetsu gaped.

"Then... _she_ came to the village we were living in, and killed everyone." Shino continued. "Then Rio offered me a chance to live, and gave me Murasame. From then on, Murasame was what was keeping me alive."

_I never knew there was such a story behind it. It kind of reminds me of me and Kokonoe, though... _Keno mused.

"So that's why its... weird," Shino said, looking thoughtfully at his fingers. "If Murasame's gone, how am I still alive?"

No one had an answer.

"Ah well," Shino yawned, standing up and stretching. "I'm going back upstairs." Something shiny and black fell out of his coat pocket.

"Shino, you dropped something."

"Eh?" Confused, Shino looked down. _Ah, that's right... I shoved something into my pocket. What was it?_ His eyes widened as he looked down.

"Shino?"

Silently, he bent down and picked the object up. It felt familiar - and no wonder. He held it up so that others could see.

"A feather?" Daikaku blinked.

"_Murasame's_ feather," Shino corrected, absently fingering the familiar soft, smooth surface. "But how..." Then it clicked. "That's right! He dropped it when he vanished!"

"If that belonged to Murasame," Rio spoke, (several people jumped - they had forgotten he was there) "then a certain amount of his power is in that. It would most likely be safe to assume that is the answer to your question. There is a sufficient amount of energy in that to support you."

"You should keep that feather with you at all times, Shino," Sousuke reasoned.

Shino nodded, and studied the feather in his hand.

_Murasame... where are you?_

* * *

_"Hurry up and do it!"  
_

_Shino's eyes flew open. He found himself in a rather unusual surrounding. The room was lit by about a dozen green candles. The flickering emerald flames gave the room a somewhat eerie atmosphere. As he watched, the flames slowly turned blue, then purple. There were lots of strangely shaped objects around scattered. The dim lighting casted odd, twisting shadows on the pale walls. _

_"No!"  
_

_Shino's eyes widened at the familiar voice. He ran towards the voices.  
_

_At the other end of the room, there was a group of people. Upon closer inspection, it turned out they were demons - a varied group of youkai and ayakashi, the biggest being the size of a small house and the smallest being the size of a child. Shino kept his distance to avoid drawing attention to himself, then realized they couldn't see - or hear - him._

Is this a dream?_ Shino wondered. It certainly didn't feel like one. It was far too realistic._

_"No!"_

_Shino looked over at the source of the sound. His throat tightened._

Murasame!

_The crow was contained within a orb of swirling purple demonic energy. It was beating its wings and trying to escape, but the energy singed its feathers whenever it got too close. _

_"Its useless to escape," the one Shino assumed to be the head demon hissed, revealing long, yellow canine teeth. Its beady eyes were full of excitement. Seeing that their captive wasn't about to cooperate, he nodded to another demon. "Do it."  
_

_The youkai he spoken to bore a vague resemblance to Yukihime. She nodded, and raised a white hand. _

_A flare of blinding energy shot from her fingers. It passed harmlessly through the cage, but struck the crow in full force. Murasame gave a final, despairing screech before melting into a black blob._

_Shino felt sick._

_Slowly, still contained withing the white energy, it begun to take shape once more. However, it was a much more different shape to his usual form. From the inky blackness sprouted two arms. Legs. A head. Within moments, a humanoid figure could be made out. _

_The youkai let her hand fall. The energy evaporated. The figure Shino hoped was still Murasame dropped to the floor. Without warning, two points on its back began bubbling horribly. Then all at once, two jet black wings burst from the limp body. A sudden wind blew out all the surrounding candles, throwing in already dim room into complete darkness and effectively cutting off Shino's sight. _

_"Murasame... Murasame!" But it was useless - no one could hear him._

_"Finally," the lead youkai cackled. "'He' will be so pleased..."_

_"Who's 'he'?" Shino screamed. "What did you do to Murasame? What's going on? Where am I?"_

_But the floor melted beneath him, and he was falling. Falling... falling... falling..._

_And the youkai's last words followed him down._

_"How do you like your new body, Murasame?"_

**Please review!**


End file.
